Keep Your Head Up
by Spiritus Rex
Summary: Oneshots in a "slice of life" style based upon the AU setting in my other story "Keep Your Head Down." These oneshots will range in genre and character focus, but will add insight and perhaps hints as to what's really going on in this AU. Enjoy!
1. Owl

**AN: TADAAAAA~ Here we have the first installment of the series of oneshots set in the Keep Your Head Down universe. I admit, that the timeline on these oneshots is going to be a bit iffy. Some will obviously take place before the story of KYHD, but some will take place within/after (with no spoilers! don't worry) and yet... they also won't? It'll all be a bit odd timeline wise, to be honest, but I'm just going to write whatever comes to my mind. These oneshots are going to range in genre as well, but typically all will be tied together by a sort of "family" genre, because dang, the knights and Arthur and Merlin and Gwen and everyone else are a definite family in this AU. **

**Some info for KYHD might also be revealed bit by bit in these oneshots - such as where other characters are in this AU, what happened earlier on in certain character relationships - so keep your eyes pealed! But most of all, enjoy!**

**Repost of characters and their ranks: **

******General of the Army/King - _Uther Pendragon  
_********Secretary to the King (unsure of actual rank) - _Morgana Pendragon  
_********General -_ Arthur Pendragon  
_Lieutenant General_ - Kilgharrah Drakon  
_********Colonel - _Leon Young  
_********Lieutenant Colonel - _Gwaine Green  
_********Major/Court Sorcerer - _Merlin Emrys  
Major/Court Sorcerer - Mordred Camlann  
_********First Lieutenant - _Lancelot Du Lac  
_********Second Lieutenant - _Percival Fisher  
_********Second Lieutenant - _Elyan Smith  
_********Court Physician (unsure of actual rank) - _Gaius Heahlaece  
_********_  
_**

******Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin nor the FMA elements that I am using in these oneshots!**

******_WARNING:_ No warning for this one! We're starting off on a happier note this time.**

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1: _Owl_

There was an owl in the office.

Arthur had shut the door the moment he had seen it, keeping his back pressed against the piece of wood lest the feathered _beast _throw itself at the portal in an attempt to escape. He hadn't bothered to check if any of his men were in there, after he had spotted the bird, he had made a tactical retreat. Arthur really had no idea how he was supposed to get to his own private office, what with the pathway from point A, the hallway, and point B, his office, blocked by an owl that had no right to be there. He had no idea how the owl got in, much less any ideas on how to get it out.

He was the son of the King, Arthur reminded himself as he ever so slowly peeled himself away from the door and turned to face it again. He'd led his team on countless dangerous missions. He'd fought in a war. He'd fought tooth and nail to rise to the rank of General and had one of the highest security clearances in the entire Camelotian military. He could take on a _damn bird._

Arthur threw the door open, the owl startled, flew at him, and he slammed the door shut again.

Loud, guffawing laughter came from behind the door. Arthur stiffened and narrowed his eyes to deadly slits, before he threw it back open again and held his ground as the owl hooted in indignation. This was _his _office, no matter what anyone said about the office being the team's collective responsibility. It was his, and he wasn't about to be scared out of it by a great big fluffy mass of screeching hooting _death. _

The laugh came again, and Arthur directed his burning deadly narrowed eyes onto the source. Gwaine was sitting at Merlin's desk in the corner, nearly breaking the chair with how far he was leaning in his full body laugh. He was slapping his knee and everything, the ass.

"Lieutenant Colonel." Arthur barked, ignoring the owl in favor of startling Gwaine right out of his pants. The man choked on a laugh and flailed backwards, the chair's two front legs floating up off the ground and not sticking the landing as Gwaine crashed backwards onto the floor.

_Serves him right,_ Arthur thought with a self-satisfied smirk, revelling in the new laughter that came from the rest of the men in the room at Gwaine's clumsy fall. He didn't allow himself to revel for too long though, before he turned his attention back to the elephant in the room.

Or rather, the owl in the room.

"Someone better explain this right the hell now." He grumbled, reaching one hand up to rub at the bridge of his nose, but still managing to keep a sharp eye on the owl. The thing was perched on Leon's desk lamp, and was watching him back just as sharply. It took all of Arthur's self restraint not to run over towards the thing, flapping his arms and yelling "Shoo! Shoo!" just in an effort to get it to _disappear. _

No one spoke up to explain, and Arthur felt himself growing more and more frustrated. His team were acting as if the owl belonged there in their office with them, if the way no one was rushing to get rid of it was any indication, and Arthur could not fathom in his mind why until someone explained.

"Err, well-"

Arthur turned to Elyan, who had spoken up first, not meaning to glare at the Second Lieutenant so fiercely but still managing to do so anyways.

"It's Merlin's owl, sir."

Of _course _it was Emrys' owl. Arthur should've known.

He kept his hand on his nose, but relaxed his posture slightly, now reassured that there wasn't an enemy bird in their main base of operation. Not that he had thought that the bird was a spy bird anyways. That would be being paranoid. Arthur was not a paranoid person. Unless it came to birds that were owned by Merlin. _Then_ he was a paranoid person.

Who knew what kind of weird magicky thing the boy had already done to the creature? Any moment now, and the bird could transform into a dragon and start burning down the city for all he knew. Merlin wasn't anywhere in sight to control the damn thing either, having left his owl to Elyan, Leon, Gwaine, and Percival. Four men that Arthur would _never _trust alone with an animal. Well, maybe Percival or Leon or Elyan could be trusted, but Gwaine? Certainly not.

Gwaine was still on the ground though, so that meant they were safe, for now.

Oh, oh no. He was getting up. Great. Gwaine Green was up on his feet, time to arm yourselves men.

"And where _is _that lump of a sorcerer anyways?" Arthur asked as the owl hooted at him and flapped its wings a bit, just enough to get enough air to hop from Leon's desk lamp to Percival's lamp, and then with one large swooping hop it managed to fly all the way from there to the top of the large metal file cabinet in the corner of the room.

Gwaine pressed his hands to the small of his back and cracked his spine loudly, "Went to go get some owl food, asked us to watch over the thing till he got back." He answered, with Percival's silent but firm nod backing up his story. The owl also let out an odd hissing hoot that confirmed it as well, expressing its agreement with Merlin's alibi by angrily complaining about its hunger.

Arthur shot the bird a look, but then sighed. "And _when _did he say he'd be back?"

Gwaine shrugged, so Arthur turned to Leon, in hopes that his second in command could be trusted to remember whatever Merlin had said before abandoning his owl in their hands. Leon, thankfully, didn't let him down.

"Said he'd be gone about a half hour, twenty-three minutes ago."

Arthur's men had been alone with Merlin's owl for _twenty-three _solid minutes, and nothing had been burned down or crushed or torn to shreds. He had to say, he was a little impressed after all.

"What, so now we wait seven full minutes for Merlin to come bursting back in here and explain himself?" Arthur groused, putting his hands on his hips. Everyone shrugged and nodded in response, and the owl hooted again. Arthur dropped his head so he was facing the floor and let out an exasperated huff. "That's great. Exactly what I wanted to do with my day. Spend seven minutes with a bloody owl flapping around the office leaving god-knows-what kind of diseases everywhere."

"Sounds like seven minutes in heaven gone way wrong there." Gwaine quipped, snorting back a laugh as Arthur spun and pointed his finger into his friend's face.

Arthur didn't know what he'd do if Merlin went over seven minutes. Probably commit some kind of crime.

Five minutes into the seven, Merlin entered the office to see Arthur struggling between trying to strangle either the owl or Gwaine, Leon holding him back, Percival holding Gwaine back, and Elyan cheering on obnoxiously in the background, sitting on his desk with the owl beside him and pumping his fists. The sorcerer froze - one foot barely over the threshold, arms laden with paper bags full of owl food and other things he'd need to care for the bird - when all eyes turned on him.

"Err, I'm back?"

The owl hooted in the sudden silence of the room, and launched up from where it had been snuggly sitting next to Elyan. It glided around the room once, twice, three times, and after three times of everyone watching the owl make its rounds, Arthur broke free of Leon's hold to point at the bird.

"Explain."

Merlin watched the owl once more before smirking at his commanding officer, "Well, sir, that's what's called an owl, specifically a horned owl. They range in size, as most animals do, and as you can see this one is actually quite la-"

"Merlin I swear if you don't give me a straight answer I will _make your life a living hell_."

The sorcerer swallowed his next words, but still wore that stupid grin on his face that Arthur had dubbed his '_far too proud of himself and his own cheeky comebacks_' grin. With a shuffle of the bags in his arms, and a kick to the door to shut it soundly, Merlin proceeded into the room and over to his desk to deposit his load. The owl lighted down beside him, hooting softly and poking at the bag with its beak. Merlin carefully nudged the bird away, drawing attention to the thick glove he wore on his left hand that went about half way up his forearm.

"I've been given this owl to take care of for the time being, sir." Merlin said as he began to unload the bags, depositing another odd glove, a perch that still obviously had some assembly required, and two bags of what the team assumed to be owl feed, upon his desk.

Arthur spluttered, "By _who_?" He asked incredulously, and he was certain the owl mimicked him as it hooted just at that moment as well. Gwaine snickered obnoxiously in the background where he too had managed to get out of the hold restraining him. Arthur was far too preoccupied to tell the man off though, as he tried to focus on just who in the world would give Merlin the assignment to take care of such an obviously destructive animal.

"Errr head of the Division of Magical Affairs, yes. Lieutenant General Kilgharrah? I think he's got a soft spot for me, yeah. Anyways-" Kilgharrah. Uther hated Kilgharrah more than anything, and yet probably hated himself even more so for letting the old dragon of a man get all the way up to being a Lieutenant General. The King had not been above sabotage when he had learned that Kilgharrah was rising through the ranks, but even he had had to grudgingly admit the man's ability and knowledge when it came to magic. Now, Kilgharrah stood next to Uther for every Court Sorcerer test or evaluation, both the written and practical parts, and Uther ignored the man best he could all the while. "He called me up to his office yesterday, said he wanted me to take a look at this owl, maybe teach it to speak or some such nonsense, probably for espionage missions or communication things. No idea why he'd pick _me_ though. I think he's joking with me, since my name's Merlin and all. Thinking maybe I'd have an affinity with birds or some such nonsense."

"Merlin," Leon chimed in, "the Lieutenant General never jokes. Ever."

"Yeah," Gwaine added, apparently deciding that since Leon had butted in, he was at the liberty to do so as well, "I don't think he knows how. All he talks in is cryptic riddles, then he smirks and smokes and glares. I think that's all he does."

Merlin raised an eyebrow - Arthur resolved then and there to keep Merlin from spending too much more time with Gaius, the old man was obviously a bad influence - but shrugged, reaching out with his gloved hand to rub at the feathers on the top of the bird's head. "Well, can't be helped. I've already accepted. Meet Archimedes, everyone!"

Arthur deadpanned, "You _named _the bloody thing?"

The owl - _Archimedes_ - hooted in what Arthur was _sure_ was a challenge, when Merlin stopped stroking its feathers to respond to Arthur, "Well, yeah?" Merlin obviously wasn't getting it.

"I want that bird out of the office, Major."

Merlin blinked, and then his mouth fell open. Yep, he was getting it now.

"What- and I'm supposed to train him in the dorms? Where there's no animals allowed? In my _huge amounts of free time_?"

Well. It was Arthur's turn now to get it, and understand why Merlin had dragged the animal into their office after all. Archimedes hooted another hoot, this one sounding suspiciously as if the owl were laughing at him in his folly, and Arthur snapped his mouth shut and grit his teeth slightly.

"I don't want it to interrupt our daily work then. I don't want it coming on any missions or patrols. I don't want to hear about it getting out into the building and wreaking havoc. You hear me, Merlin? Your bird, your responsibility."

Merlin rolled his eyes and went back to rubbing his fingers through Archimedes feathers, "Yes _sir._" He grumbled sarcastically.

Arthur ran a hand through his hair, "And why _Archimedes_ of all things Merlin?" He burst out finally, after a gruelling moment of watching the owl coo in positive bliss as Merlin pampered the beast.

A grumble of agreement came from the other men in the room, showing that Arthur wasn't alone in his curiosity as to the name choice. "Yeah, I suppose we all thought you'd name it something more, I dunno, magicky?" Elyan supplied helpfully, earning another grumble of agreement.

"Contrary to belief, I do think about other things besides magic."

"Ah, so that's why I saw steam coming out of your head earlier."

Merlin paused, glared at Arthur, then continued on, "And I thought, well, if he's to be highly educated, then he should have the name of someone highly educated. Ergo, Archimedes." He brushed his fingers through the feathers on the owl's stomach once again, and Archimedes practically _purred_.

"Well, good luck educating that." Arthur offered, before finally making to move on and shut himself up in his office. He did not want to be around for the little party that would undoubtedly soon take place, in which all of his men would turn to mush under an owl's wide eyes and try to feed it treats. "I doubt you'll be very successful."

"Oh, I think I'll be _very_ successful."

A little over two weeks later, Arthur walked into the office and was called a "clotpole" in about five different languages, with only Archimedes in the room to have spoken.


	2. Cold

**AN: This is one of those oneshots that is definitely one you should read for further insight/hints/plot points of Keep Your Head Down. Yeah. Definitely. - but heeeeeeey, f****or once, I managed to write something that wasn't either Merlin or Arthur oriented- so I'm a bit proud of myself. Of course, it's still Mordred oriented- and Mordred is probably my third favorite characer in the entire Merlin series- so while I'm proud I'm also not, haha. but yeah, this shot will give some info into this AU's Mordred's background. Hope you all enjoy!**

**Responses to reviews on _Owl:_**

**_mersan123 - haha glad you liked it! thank you!_**

**_fairy goatmother - :D you're welcome/thank you! I'm glad you like this story (and don't worry, I'll be workin to get KYHD updating as soon as possible! hang in there!)_**

**_Misunderstood Hero - thank you! _**

**_gingeeinthetardis - haha thank you! I'm glad you think its equally as good!_**

**_DarkMousyRulezAll- shshshgtuhth, we do not speak of the dark days of my first couple of fanfictions amiko- *shivers* i still get notifications even now of people threatening me to update that, when i've completely forgotten the plot and havn't updated for yeARS- and yes nothing less could be expected of any owl of Merlin's - thank you!_**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin nor do I own any FMA elements I use in this oneshot**

_**WARNING:**_** Some disturbing imagery. Some death. **

* * *

2: _Cold_

It was cold.

It was very cold.

The snow was a blinding white all around him, and he could no longer see through the storm the tents his people had lived in. He also could not see them because they had all been torn down in the chaos. People ran around him, parting and not daring to step on the child huddled in the snow. They would huddle in the snow too if they could, but they were afraid. Afraid of the cold, and of the people coming for them.

They knew that he would die, whether from the snow he huddled in or the men that chased them mattered not. They kept running. They left him.

Red flashed in and out of the white storm, uniforms crisply pressed and barely holding up against the snow seen in the few intervals in which the wind broke. They were easy to spot in their red, but he knew he was no safer, with his thick green cloak standing out like a spot of moss on a white stone. He still didn't move though, he couldn't bring himself to.

How had everything gone so terribly so very fast?

More people ran around him, and a boot caught his legs. The child went sprawling into the snow, but he made no sound. The world around him slowly stilled, and for however long he was left lying there - hours, minutes? - no one passed his small form. He was just pushing himself up - to stand? To sit? To go back to the dazed, numb existence he had previously been living out? - when something even colder than the ice around him was pressed to his head.

"Ey, what's this we got here? Where's your parents at ya little Druid _rat_? Did they run off to hide with the rest o those vermin? Huh?"

The gun against his head was steady, but the boy was not. He trembled, and did not move. He did not cry either. No, his father had not cried, his mentor had not cried, and so he would not either, no matter the fear that coursed through his body and made his heart hammer so loudly against his ribcage. It hurt, his heart, it hurt so terribly and he swore that the metal of the gun throbbed with each pulse from the organ.

"Tell me where they went, Druid!"

Footsteps crunched through the snow and storm, and the gun was shoved roughly away. Still yet though the boy did not breathe. "Stop wavin' that thing around, ya plonker." Someone kneeled in the child's line of sight, and waved a hand just before his glazed over eyes. "Look whatcha did, scared the poor little bugger stiff." The hand moved and slapped his cheek gently, and the boy startled back to life. He flinched backwards, falling onto his bottom in the snow, and stared up at the two men before him with such cold fear that they almost took a step back themselves.

Their faces blurred together to the boy, never mind that one was smiling with faux kindness and one was sneering in obvious disgust, they both looked the same in their crimson, gold tipped uniforms.

"We're sorry about all this, kid." The blurred smiling one said, sticking a hand out for the child to take. He did not take it. "This Druid encampment was showin up on our radar a bit too much. Situation over here got a bit too problematic, you all got a bit too big for your britches, so the King said - and y'know how that King is - Kind said to come over and take care of you all."

The boy shook his head slowly, in denial, in fear. He should have known when their little refugee camp had moved from Mercia into Camelot territory that bad things were in store for them. Uther Pendragon was a cruel man, despite how he claimed to tolerate magic and even respect it. He respected nothing and no one. He _hated_ magic, and Druids, and Dragonlords. And everyone in the world knew it.

"Why don't you tell me where all your friends ran off to then, so we can take care of them just like we're gonna take care of you?"

The child looked up at the men before him, still dazed.

He saw red.

He _screamed. _

The two soldiers flew backwards at least twenty feet, and their bodies hit the ground with an explosion of snow and cracks of bone.

More red filled his vision as the child staggered to his feet. More soldiers had rushed over to assist their fallen comrades and take out whatever threat had incapacitated them so thoroughly. His magic had been released by that yell, and now it roared through his body like a burning hot bull, snorting and charging at anything it saw that seemed to pose a threat. He had no hopes of controlling all the power now, he was simply sitting on top of the bull, holding the reins and hoping against all hope that he wouldn't be thrown off. A dull, green-gold light flashed behind his blue eyes, and the men that had been slowly approaching him, yelling words he could not hear over the roar of snow - "_Put your hands in the air Druid! Put them up! We'll shoot, we swear we will! God damnit put your hands in the air!" - _dropped their guns as their bodies _twisted _in a terribly horrific fashion. The child screamed at the sight, and more soldiers dropped. More and more dropped and dropped and _fell_ until all the red was _blood_ and no man stood.

No man but him.

Soon, the child didn't even stand. He sunk as if in slow motion, and fell back down into a huddled crouch, his cloak pooling around him. It was there that he cried, with no one alive to see him cry. He had tried so hard to be strong and to not cry, like his mentor and father, but surely if no one saw him, then he technically wasn't crying, right? If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear?

"_It still makes a sound," His mentor whispered, his strong, calloused hand running up the trunk of the nearest tree. He turned and smiled at his pupil, and moved his hand from the trunk to the boy's head, laughing at the indignant sound made by the boy when his hair became mussed. "Everything in this world is connected, and you would do well to remember that. If a tree falls and no one hears it, then they just don't know that they've heard it yet. That tree that fell will soon rot, and as it does it might become a home for any number of animals or creatures. And then it will rot some more, down into the earth to nourish her growth. Someone might sit on the stump one day, and that someone might be you. That tree's final sound was heard by you, years later, when you needed a place to rest, and so you sat there. Everything effects everything else, and so if a tree falls and no one hears it, well, the tree still makes a sound, still leaves an impact on the world."_

The child had not understood it then, but he understood it now, as his cries muffled the sound of someone approaching. That someone had been drawn through the storm by his pained sounds, the sounds that he had thought no one had been around to hear.

A heavy hand fell on his shoulder, and the boy startled. His magic had worked itself to the edge at that point, and there was not even a drop left within him to push the hand away. So the boy flinched and tensed and gave up. He huddled in his cloak, and waited for a gun against his head.

And yet, there was no gun that pressed itself into his temple. There was no pain that burned just before it faded to black. Two large arms unexpectedly wrapped around his small frame, and pulled him _dangerously _close to a red uniformed chest. He froze, and his eyes went wide, and he dared not make a sound as the man breathed and held him in the snow of the slowly calming storm.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, to your camp." The wind _howled _softly in the background, "I'll help you, I'll make it better, I promise. It's okay to cry. Go ahead, it's okay."

His tears froze to ice on his face, as he clutched the man who held him. He was so cold, so _cold, _that he didn't think he'd ever feel warmth ever again.

But at least - Mordred thought as the Camelot soldier, the one with the blurred face like all the others, lifted him into the air and began to walk away from the torn apart camp - at least he wasn't the type of cold that dead bodies were. At least he wasn't that cold.


	3. Hand Signals

**AN: Alright, this oneshot is kinda trying to establish some more cemented rolls for each of the knights while they're all smooshed together in this little military team I've got. I also took a little bit more serious approach on the whole "Merlin doesn't understand Arthur's handsignals" thing, that is usually written off as humorous in the show. This oneshot is also just kinda a little slap to the face for Arthur and his team and also mainly for myself for dropping Merlin into KYHD and then saying "yes yes its completely plausible that this kid became a Major with no previous military history or training. Yes I did research I watched Fullmetal Alchemist what do u mean that's not how the actual military works if Ed can do it so can Merlin." so yeah haha thats what this oneshot is**

**Responses to reviews on _Cold:_**

**_mersan123 - yeah, I was kinda takin a leap throwing a super dark oneshot like that right after somethin as funny as Owl. shrug- thank you for reviewing though even though u didn't know how to respond to it!_**

**_fairy goatmother - haha yeah- welllppp ya win some ya lose some. Thank you!_**

**_DarkMousyRulezAll - thanks amiko! yeah i wanted to explain Mordred's background some more, and it's gonna get glossed over a little in KYHD, but nothing like the detail I really wanted to explain it in. Soooo bam- small Mordred background oneshot. Thank you!_**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin nor do I own the FMA elements I use in this oneshot.**

_**WARNING:**_** Guns and stuff**

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3: _Hand Signals_

The team quickly learned that when Merlin's file said "_No previous military/army training" _It seriously in all honesty meant _no previous military/army training. _

They had been trapped in a warehouse when the fact first slapped them all in the face, a warehouse on the nastier side of Camelot, with gun toting thugs pumping bullets non-stop into their cover. Arthur and Merlin were ducked behind a great big stack of crates, Arthur with his gun in his hands and Merlin with his hands free to press against the boxes and reinforce them with a little bit of magic every now and then. Percival was ducked behind another set of crates across the floor from then, a fantastic feat for a man of his build and size, with Gwaine on the warehouse rooftop across the way waiting with a scope for Arthur's signal to shoot through the windows when he could. Leon and Elyan were back at their office, with Leon working their communications from the radios he had in the office, and Elyan being ready to inform other teams in the building if Arthur needed any back up at all. The only reason Elyan wasn't with them out in the field because there was no bomb involved, if there had, well, Leon would've been on his own in the office.

All in all, the team knew what they were doing and had their rolls, until the hand signals started. Arthur was partial to hand signals. He used them in almost any situation in which it was an option, and all of his team knew what they meant thanks to their previous training and assignments, all except Merlin.

Arthur held up a hand and made a quick motion to Percival, and with a nod the man ducked and rolled from his current hiding spot to another set of crates nearby. The gunfire followed him, as the thugs were startled by the sudden movement, and their attention was pulled away from where Arthur and Merlin were crouched. Arthur made a quick hand motion to Merlin as well, gesturing with two fingers for the sorcerer to go the opposite way as him out into open ground when he gave the signal, and then gesturing to put up a shield to guard them both while Arthur would take out most of the enemy with his own gun.

Merlin stared blankly at the General in response, furrowed his brows a bit, and shrugged. Arthur rolled his eyes heavenward and smacked a hand against his forehead, repeated the hand signals to hopefully get the order across this time, and then turned away from Merlin without checking if the man had understood to peak out from behind the crates and see if the thugs were still occupied with Percival. Thankfully, no bullets flew at his head as he dangerously exposed it, and so Arthur gave the signal.

He ducked and rolled out from behind the crates, and pulled his gun up just in time to fire and catch the first thug to turn towards him in the shoulder. The man went down with a guttural cry of pain, and the faces of his companions all turned startlingly red. Arthur went to try and fire off one more shot before the bullets would start to rain down on them again, but was stopped by a heavy weight slamming into his back and toppling him out of his crouch.

Merlin had ducked and rolled out from behind their shelter as well, but he had gone the same direction Arthur had, instead of _following his damn orders_ and going the opposite way to prevent the exact situation the two of them were in now. Arthur shrugged the younger man's weight away with a snarled "You _idiot_-!" and tried to shove Merlin and himself back behind the crates before so many holes got blown in them that they ended up looking like Swiss cheese. Percival thankfully bought them some time, noticing the little traffic jam Merlin seemed to have caused and popping up from the top of his short stack of crates to shoot and catch another criminal in the thigh. Percival disappeared back behind his cover just in time for Merlin and Arthur to disappear behind theirs. The bullets started flying again, and they were back to the drawing board.

"Did you _not_ understand me the _first two times_?!" Arthur snarled, rounding on Merlin and curling his fists roughly into the younger man's collar. Percival eyed them worriedly from where he was crouched, and the static of the radio let Arthur know that Gwaine was worried as well as to why he hadn't been given orders to start shooting through windows yet. Merlin had delayed their plan by being completely inept at following orders, and Arthur wasn't about to let him get away with it. He'd court martial the kid's ass even, as long as it got the fact that listening and doing what he was told to do was of the _utmost importance_ when in dangerous, ready to blow situations such as the one they were currently in.

"No-! No I didn't!" Merlin said back, surprisingly angry as well. Arthur's hands loosened only slightly, unsure of how to react to the fact that Merlin looked as if _he_ were the one who had the right to be angry. "You just waved your hands around a bunch and then ducked out into open fire! _What was I supposed to do_? Let you get your big fat head get blown up?"

Arthur snarled, "First of all, my head is _not _fat,"

"Oh sure, you're not the one lookin at it all day every-"

Arthur pressed Merlin's back into the ridges of the crates, and the sorcerer cut off with a wince, "Second of all, did you honestly not understand _any _of the signals I gave?"

They were running out of time to chat, Arthur realized, as he heard from beyond their cover the angry sounds of the criminals running out of bullets, and getting ready to figure out a way to make the Camelot soldiers come out from their 'cowardly hiding spots.' They were running out of time, but Arthur _had _to know if Merlin honestly hadn't understood. It was a hinderance to the team and their communication during missions if he hadn't, and it also meant that once they were out of this mess that Arthur would have to get the sorcerer some basic training. That was _not _something that Arthur wanted to have to file paperwork for, not when Merlin was already on his _high ranking_ team, but it was his responsibility as the sorcerer's Commanding Officer.

Slowly, Merlin shook his head, and shrugged his shoulders up towards his ears, "No, I didn't understand a thing."

Arthur was kicking himself now. He should have listened to Morgana when she had said Merlin had had no previous military experience. God damnit, he should have listened - but no, with Gwaine pressuring him on one side and the fact that Merlin had more power than anyone had ever seen before on the other side, Arthur had made a hasty decision and then had neglected to get Merlin trained up to code. It would have been on _his_ head if Merlin had screwed up in the field and cost the team a mission, not to mention that the idea of Merlin getting shot and killed because he simply hadn't known what had been ordered of him made Arthur feel a little sick.

Arthur gritted his teeth, and slowly took his hands from Merlin's collar. "Next opening we get, you-" he sharply gestured to the direction opposite the way they had retreated from, "Go that way, and I'll-" He gestured the direction he had originally gone, "Will go this way. You put up a big fancy glowy magic shield," Arthur wiggled his fingers dramatically, and Merlin scowled at him, "and Percival and I will advance while you keep us protected."

There was a beat, "You tried to tell me all that through _hand motions_?"

Arthur groaned in frustration and shoved at Merlin's shoulder, pushing the man around into position. He then turned and crouched himself, waiting for a moment when- wait, why was everything quiet?

The crates they were crouched behind exploded towards them, not so much as if they had actually been blown up, but more so that the stack had been knocked inwards. Percival started shooting, and Arthur pressed a hand to his radio as he managed to roll away from the falling crates just in time to not get crushed, "If you've got a shot- take it! Things are escalating, so you can't just be sitting around on your ass anymore Gwaine." He ordered the Lieutenant Colonel. He was in the open now, but the thugs had almost run out of bullets, and instead were approaching with their guns as if to use them as blunt objects and beat Arthur over the head. He shot once, twice. Catching two different men in incapacitating but not fatal places.

"Jeez Princess, calm down. I've got your back." Glass shattered, as the first silent shot from Gwaine pierced a window and hit the ground, opening a vantage point for the sniper to shoot through but not hitting anything else. Arthur moved strategically towards Percival, who had also abandoned his crate cover and was shooting and fighting anyone who tried to get close. The criminals were dwindling in their numbers, despite the startling fact that there had been a ridiculous amount of them at the beginning of the mission, when Arthur had first kicked the warehouse door in. It was only proof of the skill of him and his men that they could neutralize such a threat with their minimal numbers. Arthur had always preferred tight teams of well skilled, dangerous men to great crowds of bumbling idiots with BB-Guns after all.

Speaking of bumbling idiots.

"Where's Merlin?" Arthur asked out loud, and Percival's answering shrug was enough. He glanced towards the toppled stack of metal and wooden crates, suddenly feeling cold, "Percival, cover me. I think he got trapped beneath that." The larger man nodded, and made to block Arthur as the General rushed towards the boxes and began to push them out of the way. The Second Lieutenant was not as good a shield as Merlin's magic would have been, but Arthur was grateful none the less.

He holstered his gun, and began shoving aside what boxes and crates he could. The things were huge though, and probably weighed more than Percival and he combined, but the wooden ones were easy enough to slide away from the pile. The metal ones posed the problem, heavy and with deep ridges, they looked as if only one could crush a small child and break all their bones. Arthur didn't want to think of what the whole mess of them could do to a thin young man.

"Arthur!" Percival grunted, trying to get the General to hurry. Arthur nodded to show that he had heard the man before he continued at a faster pace to try and dig his sorcerer out. Finally, finally, he found Merlin.

The man looked paler than normal - which was quite a feat, honestly - and had blood smeared across the side of his face. It looked as if he had been hit in the head right when from the beginning when the crates had been knocked over top of them, and then his leg- Arthur grimaced and hooked his arms under Merlin's limp ones, just beginning to pull him out when the gunfire stopped.

"Annnnd that's a wrap." Came Gwaine's voice over the earpiece, after the dust and smoke cleared inside the warehouse. Arthur sighed in relief, thankful that the action had stopped when it did, and thankful that he and Percival wouldn't have to try and guard an unconscious Merlin from getting shot if the bullets had kept flying.

"Alright, Gwaine. Get in here and help Percival lock up the ones still alive. I'm gonna get Merlin to Gaius." Arthur said quickly, and - with help from Percy - hauled Merlin up to his feet. Merlin's eyes fluttered and almost opened, and Arthur smacked at the man's cheek, hoping that the man would regain consciousness if only to take some of his weight off the General's shoulder and make the journey to the physician's office easier. Merlin didn't regain consciousness, and instead his dead weight began to slump to the floor again once Percival tried to move away. Gwaine loped in through the warehouse doorway just in time to see Merlin slump, and instantly was at the sorcerer's side, grumbling under his breath things that Arthur could probably use as grounds for a court martial - if he cared.

"On second thought- Leon,"

"Yes?"

There was Leon, waiting and ready. Arthur moved away from Merlin and let Gwaine handle the man, gesturing with his hand for Percival to follow him and that they would start tying up the leftover thugs. They had lots of questions to ask them after all. "Can you get Gaius down here as fast as possible? Merlin's unconscious. Possible concussion. Definite broken leg."

"Yikes- how'd that happen?" Leon asked, seemingly not obeying orders, but Arthur heard him lean away to send a message down the line to Gaius.

"Stack of cargo crates and things we were hiding behind fell on him. He-" Arthur waved to Percival in apologie, and then stepped away to pinch at the bridge of his nose. Clean up after missions that were supposed to be quick and easy, but went wrong, was never one of Arthur's favorite things about leading his team into the field. "He didn't know any of my hand signals Leon. If I had just known and told him what I wanted him to do instead of-" He gestured wildly with his hands, though he knew his right hand man couldn't see him, "Then we woulda saved a lot of time and wouldn't have been caught unaware like we were."

Leon hummed in thought and understanding, "Well it's hardly your fault you didn't know, Arthur. He doesn't sound too terribly hurt, and now you know, so all in all I think that figuring out how you did rather than in a worse situation was beneficial. Now you can get him started on some training and get him caught up to speed on your hand signals that you love so much."

Arthur breathed out as he heard, through Leon, his own thoughts echoed. He still felt a small twist of guilt in his stomach, for having gotten so angry with the Major and having set them back by not doing his duty from the beginning, but Merlin wasn't too seriously harmed, thank goodness, and so Arthur could breathe easy.

"As soon as he wakes up, he's gonna wish he never did." Arthur grumbled, glancing towards where Gwaine had left Merlin lying, and had gone to join Percival in dragging the unconscious thugs all to one spot.

"Oh, I don't doubt that. Gaius will be there in ten minutes by the way."

Arthur nodded, "Thanks Leon."

"No problem."

The line clicked shut, and Arthur walked back over to his fallen soldier, eyes focused on the blood on Merlin's face and the odd angle in which his leg lay. He was thankful that things had not gone worse, truly, but he knew that any time he would catch sight of Merlin's cast he'd get angry at his own shortcomings. At least now he knew to pay _extra special_ attention when people or files said that someone had _no previous military training. _


	4. Cast

**AN: okay, this one is kind of an apology for the last chapter in which I hurt Merlin - again- yea h - its really short, kinda messy, the flow is bad, but hey, despite a small spot of tumultuous thoughts, Merlin is smiling.**

**Responses to reviews on _Hand Signals:_**

**_fairy goatmother - haha thank you! glad you like these oneshots_**

**_mersan123 - yeah, i dont think he ever really did. thank you! glad you enjoyed!_**

**_DarkMousyRulezAll - yuP- crushed by crates. At least he's not dead rigHT *SHRUG* - thank you amiko!_**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin nor do I own any FMA elements i use in this oneshot**

**_WARNING:_ ****no warnings for this chapter (just a mention of medicine/pain drugs)**

* * *

4: _Cast_

Merlin was absolutely _milking_ the whole broken leg thing.

The first day he hobbled back into the office, cast on his leg and crutches wedged under his arms, there had been a smirk on his face. Merlin had then held up a pen, the smirk had grown into a genuine smile, and Arthur _knew_ that the next few weeks of Merlin's recovery were going to be _hell_.

Oh yes, never mind that they were all professional soldiers of extremely high rank and influence in one of the strongest military nations to date, there was a _cast_ on a _leg_ and therefore by the divine law of the universe it _had_ to be signed.

Gwaine had even drawn a small cartoon caricature of himself holding what looked to be a medieval jug of ale. That was where Arthur - as the commanding officer, responsible for the order within his team - drew the line.

"Merlin, if you keep distracting my men, I'm going to kick you out of this office."

The sorcerer turned his head to give his commanding officer a doubtful, smug look, one eyebrow arched and letting Arthur know that Merlin _knew_ the young General would not let him loose in the center of Camelot while injured - especially when Arthur felt a slight bit of guilt and responsibility for Merlin's injury as well.

"It's not really like we're doing much productive today though." Arthur heard Elyan mutter to someone - probably Gwaine - in the background. He grit his teeth, wondering why ever since Merlin had come, there had been insubordination from his men who had up until then - mostly - followed his orders. Or at least, he liked to think they had followed his orders.

"Take your crutches and go elsewhere, Emrys. You're dismissed for the day." Arthur said surprising almost everyone in the room with his decision, but mostly surprising Merlin, whose mouth had fallen open slightly at the dismissal he had definitely not been expecting.

"Wha- Do you really think letting me roam Camelot alone with these crutches is a good idea?" Merlin asked.

_"_Wandering is completely unnecessary." Arthur snorted, crossing his arms over his chest as he explained, "Go spend time with Gaius, after all, you do enough of that when you're supposed to be on duty anyways." Merlin fought a satisfied smirk and ducked his head, shrugging in a '_guilty as charged' _manner before he heaved himself to his feet.

"Well, I guess that is preferable to being around you lot." He accepted with a dramatic sigh, summoning his crutches - which had some how ended up suspiciously close to Gwaine's desk - over across the room with a quick tug of his magic upon their handles. Merlin was determined to make the most of his forced ejection from the office, and if Arthur was offering to let him go spend time with the kind old physician, then he'd take the offer. Of course, it was with a twinge in his chest that Merlin crutched his way to the door, the feeling of not-belonging pressing lightly upon the edge of his mind. If the moment he was "a distraction" and momentarily useless he was sent from the office, what would happen if he were to be injured or lose his usefulness permanently one day? He had to admit, the dismissal somewhat hurt.

Of course - Merlin made sure to force himself to think, chasing the other destructive thoughts away - he was likely over thinking things because of all the pain meds he was on. There was nothing personal about this, just Arthur doing his job and keeping his men focused. Merlin was injured, he needed some time away from the office. Everything was just to keep the group all working like clockwork. Yes, it was definitely the pain meds. Perhaps a visit to Gaius and a nap on one of the old man's patient beds would do him good. Perhaps Arthur had already had that in mind for Merlin, and this was his roundabout way of caring for him as one of his men and teammates.

He reached the door - after what felt like a millennia, and stopped to forcefully quiet his thoughts. Goodness, if this was how his thought process was while on the bare minimum of pain meds-

"Well, Merlin? Get going."

He tilted his head to stick his tongue out at Arthur, and opened the door in front of him with a shine of his magic. No doubt he was going well over the limit of how much magic he could do in a day, and no doubt Arthur would be sitting at his desk long into the night going over _each_ and _every_ instance that Merlin used his magic that day - as Merlin learned that Arthur _had _to check Merlin's magic records at the end of each work day. But, of course - Merlin smirked as he limped out into the hallway and shut the door with magic again - that was exactly what he wanted.

Now though, Merlin decided to put all thoughts of work and the office and his friends to the back of his mind. He had a sick bed to commandeer in the physician's office, and nothing was going to stop him from getting there.

Not even the snickers of passing uniformed men and women as they spotted the tiny cartoon drawings all over his cast would stop him. In fact, those made him smile just a bit wider.


End file.
